Renewables such as EfW could mitigate against energy shocks

A report commissioned by the Government has shown that investment in renewables, such as energy from waste technologies and wind and wave power, could halve the negative impacts of energy price shocks.

Produced by Oxford Economics, and commissioned by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the analysis showed that the impact of spikes in global oil, gas and coal prices could be reduced by over 50 per cent in 2050.

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This could be achieved by using low-carbon forms of electricity generation including renewables, new nuclear and carbon capture and storage and through increasing energy efficiency.

“Only last year, the impact of the Arab Spring on wholesale gas prices, pushed up UK household by 20 per cent.

“The more we can shift to alternative fuels, and use energy efficiently, the more we can ensure that our economy does not become hostage to far-fling events and to the volatility of market forces.

“Of course, there are costs to building more low-carbon plants, but the gains are so much greater, and crucially they are lasting.

“This is about building a more resilient economy and providing more stable energy prices for the generations that follow us.”

ADBA chairman Lord Redesdale welcomed the report, but called for great Government action to make it happen.

He added: “Firm support for renewable technologies is essential if Britain is to meet our binding climate change targets and deliver economic growth, and biogas should be at the heart of this as a flexible, constantly generated fuel.

“Alongside the potential to meet over 10 per cent of our domestic demand, generating biogas from anaerobic digestion could support 35,000 jobs and deliver a significant part of the green growth which we need to grow the economy.”